Bandung Trip - Special Edition

I received a call from my mom just now.
She said, "mana gambar-gambar masa kat atas bukit Dayang Sumbi tu?"
Me, blurr kejap.. bukit Dayang Sumbi???
Then I replied, "Owhh, ada la entri pasal Tangkuban Parahu tu.. gambar mak je yang takde.. hehehe"
Mak said, "Alaa.. masukkan la sekali"
Kekekke.. tak puas hati tu! So, this entry is specially dedicated to my parents. Layan gambar je, okay?

Grand Preanger Hotel - one of the oldest hotel in Bandung

12-seater Isuzu.. very comfortable!

Breakfast at hotel on the second day

At the lobby, waiting for the rest of the group

Ada lagi seller camni kat Bandung

Angkutan Kota a.k.a angkot.. the most popular transportation in Bandung

Gerai nanas.. Lumayan nih.. manis sekali!
Ini tidak tumbuh semulajadi okay.. pokok pine ini di bawa dan di tanam oleh Belanda. Bisa dilihat on the way to Tangkuban Parahu

Blog's owners.. hehe

Magnificient Tangkuban Parahu

Mesmeric view.. ramai orang.. tapi 1/3 adalah street sellers

the oldest couple in the group.. kehkehkeh.. jangan marah aaa...

Abah.. busy snapping photos using his M-mobile phone.

The biggest crater - Kawah Ratu

Another look out point

cowboy

Ciater Tea Plantation
orang tengah syiokk menikmati air panas, depa sibuk suh beli aiskrim..

Kuda pakai raincoat.. hehe..

kereta kuda
monyet ini juga dijadikan sumber pendapatan di tepi jalan

last day di Kota Bandoeng

Sekian...

Bandung Trip - Day 4

Hari ini merupakan hari terakhir kami di Kota Bandung. Penerbangan pulang ialah pada jam 3.20 petang, so kami mempunyai masa yang cukup untuk satu lagi trip ke Pasar Baru. This time, kita sudah ambil maklum kedai dan toko mana yang perlu dituju dan harga yang patut ditawarkan. Inilah masa yang paling syok untuk last-minute shopping, bak kata penjual-penjual di Pasar Baru ini, "ya bu, bapak, boleh, boleh.. belanja lagi, belanja.."

Kami memaksimakan masa di Pasar Baru sehinggalah tiba waktu untuk ke lapangan terbang. Apabila pesawat Air Asia yang kami naiki mula mendaki langit, menjauhi bumi Bandung, kami terasa sesuatu.. iya.. terasa macam nak pegi sekali lagi..!

bye-bye Bandung..

As first timers, we do have some tips based on our personal likes and dislikes:

Shopping - main agenda here in Bandung. Pasar Baru is a must, Rumah Mode is a no-no. The Factory Outlets seem a good place for bargain hunters looking for original, branded labels, but we did not spend too much time there. Kalau sempat, jenguk ke Toko Tiga dan Merdeka Factory Outlet, worth the time also. Kalau sempat lagi, mampirlah ke Cibaduyut juga.

Food - second most important agenda. Our tour guide, Pak Hari took us to clean, comfortable and cosy outlets. But we only had almost the same menu - Nasi Padang or Sundanese food. Which was okay, but not when you are having same thing for the third day. The roadside stalls look tempting, but dangerous, only those with steel-lined stomachs should try. And oh yes, try the Fruit Tea drink, and Teh Botol.

roadside stalls begini banyak sekali di Bandung..

Holland's Bakery.. one of the most popular bakery here.. banyak kelihatan di sana sini.. tapi tak sempat try ;)

Sightseeing - pergi Bandung untuk menikmati pemandangan atau bingkisan sejarah, bukanlah satu pilihan yang bijak. Namun Kota ini ada daya tarikan tersendiri, seperti Muzium Asia Afrika, bangunan-bangunan tinggalan kolonial Belanda, area Old Downtown yang mirip sebuah jalan di Eropah, Rumah Gabenor, Universitas Teknologi Bandung, dan semestinya Tangkuban Perahu.

Facilities - amat menggembirakan ialah, kemudahan surau atau musholla, mahupun masjid begitu mudah dicari. Setiap rumah makan pasti ada suraunya sendiri. Setiap gedung membeli-belah atau tempat awam, pasti ada masjid. Malah tandas awam di sini pun bersih. This puts Malaysia to shame.

Masjid di Sari Ater Hot Spring. siap boleh solat jumaat lagi. kat Sunway Lagoon ada masjid??
hmmm...

A sorry sight - obviously the street peddlars/sellers/beggars. But in a bustling city of 1.7 million, overcrowded with people from the poor villages, everybody fights for survival. So it is best to ignore them, if you do not want to buy, don't even look at them, don't even say 'No'. Kalau kita dah bercakap dengan sorang penjual jalanan tu, mau sepuluh lain yang datang. Kalau sekali boleh la kita beli keychain, tapi kalau dah 10 kali orang jual keychain, takpun orang yang sama lak tu, maunya tak muak nak melayan..

street musician.. akan pergi ke mobil-mobil yang berhenti di persimpangan trafik dan mula menyanyi

Look at this lady.. dengan sepasang anak kembar yang digendong, meminta sedekah di kaki lima.. I feel so sorry for her.. the baby on her right is sleeping, while the other one is suckling ASI..

Sekian....

Bandung Trip - Day 3

Day 3

Harraz.. kamceng dengan Pak Hari

Our guide, Pak Hari promised our third day would be a shopping sojourn, so we started at Pasar Baru, tempat yang orang semua cakap THE ultimate place to shop in Bandung. Pasar Baru was an eight-story high building - sesak dan padat dengan kedai dan orang (Malaysians). Fokus di Lantai D1 dan D2 saja, sini pun dah ada macam-macam, the best and cheapest but most crowded floors of the complex.


Kebaya dan kurung sulam, telekung, blouses, tudungs, of all varieties, colours, fabrics and patterns were selling cheap here. Kids can play at Lantai 6, where the food court is also located. You can also find a masjid at the rooftop, very convenient (this is a common concept in Bandung). In Pasar Baru, you must brave the cramped shops to find the biggest bargains.

kaum adam yang kecewa, could not find anything for themselves as most of the goods here are meant for ladies.. sorry guys!

We spent up to almost 1 o'clock here (believe me, tak cukup), after which we went off for lunch at Restoran Simpang Raya for another round of... ye betul, nasi padang lagi.


Selepas itu, kami bergerak pula ke Jalan Babakan Sari di Kiaracondong, seemingly a small industrial area. We requested for this because my father-in-law brought it to our attention that in Babakan Sari, was an Al-Quran printing house.

On the way to Kiaracondong, it was raining.. kat sini pun ada banjir kilat..

Atuk yang excited!

Being a printing facility, we were denied entry at first, but the kind saptam finally granted us permission to come in, and have a look at the place's small gallery. Various religious books, and the Al-Quran, were printed and published here.

No 71, Jl. Babakan Sari, Kiaracondong

The gate.. they finally allowed us in

Abah.. in front of the gallery.. after this can show this picture to your friends, yer abah :)

Beautiful.. Subhanallah.. every single word in this al Quran has been translated into bahasa melayu
(owh.. the price here is only RM50+ , my brother-in-law bought it in Malaysia for RM120)

Abah and Mak with Pak Deni, the saptam who allowed us in

After that enlightening visit, we resumed our shopping spree - this time at Rumah Mode, but how disappointed we were. Tak tau la kenapa Malaysians suka shopping kat sini - for us, besides being crowded macam sardin, prices here are not cheap. Of course the place was beautiful, but we think Rumah Mode was over-rated. Kalau harga macam ni, elok shopping di KL saja, give Rumah Mode a miss if you want, nothing to regret.

in front of Rumah Mode

Khayra and Azri (mummy's cousin)

Kecewa dengan Rumah Mode yang indah khabar dari rupa, we requested Pak Hari to take us to a shopping mall - he took us to Bandung Indah Plaza, and across the road was the Merdeka Factory Outlet - at least we got some good bargains here.

Dinner was at Es Teller 77, where my wife tried the Bakso Super and myself, the Mi Ayam Bakso. For drinks, she had the Soda Gembira (sebenarnya sirap bandung, ini lah nama minuman ini di tempat kelahirannya), and I tried the Es Teller, which was something like ABC tapi campur mangga, nangka, kelapa, avocado dan bermacam-macam lagi, ada yang sedap, ada yang tidak berapa sedap.

in front of Bandung Indah Plaza

So, berakhirlah sudah hari ketiga - agenda shopping. Tapi nampaknya masih tidak cukup, so sudah semestinya hari keempat, akan dipenuhi dengan shopping lagi sebelum kami bertolak pulang ke tanahair..

hasil belanjanya...

to be continued..

Bandung Trip - Day 2

Day 2

khayra called it "cat!!"

We kicked off our second day, after a hearty breakfast at the hotel, to Tangkuban Perahu, the still-active volcanic kawah, located 3o km off the city.


A stratovolcano, which last erupted in 1983, Tangkuban has its own legend- that is the story of Sangkuriang and Dayang Sumbi. If and when you get there, just go see the biggest crater, the Kawah Ratu.


There are other craters here, including one active (oozing steam - you can fry eggs here), but cukup la tengok satu. The view was mesmeric though. Is Tangkuban a World Heritage site yet?

kawah ratu

Next, it was a short drive to Sari Ater, the hot spring enclave.


We dipped our legs in the hot yet refreshing spring water. The place also has many other attractions like go-karting, pony ride, elephant ride, etc.

the border between bandung tengah-subang

After spending some time here, we headed for lunch, which was at Lembang - a restaurant called Balibu. The peculiar name stood for Baru Lima Bulan - which was the age of kambing that they slaughter, apparently the most 'ripe' age to get the best meat.

belum turun dari mobil, peniaga2 sobenir dah tunggu nak serbu!

And of course we weren't disappointed, the Sate Kambing was simply majestic, enak bangat, lebih sedap dari semua sate yang ada di Pentas Sunda mahupun Nusantara ini.

enak bangat ini.. asyik!!!

This restaurant also served a very creative-looking way to serve fried fish, that we dubbed it Ikan Terbang.


Selepas menikmati makan tengahari yang cukup memuaskan hati (dan perut), kami menuju semula ke Bandung, untuk ke area Cibaduyut - dubbed the shoe street of Bandung - sepatu murah berkualitas. There were many small shops here (emper), but of course we shopped at the proper, air-conditioned mall, lah. Interesting bargains here if you look for it closely. A worthwhile stop, even if it was a little bit distanced.

(image from google)

Our next shopping stop was Toko Tiga, in the heart of the city. Tempat ini menjual barang-barang branded yang reject atau off-line. Also a very good stop for shopaholics lah, get your cheap but original wallets, handbags, jeans, khakis and shirts here.


It had been a very tiring day for us, so dinner was welcomed, but the food was becoming quite jemu. This time, it was a place called Rumah Makan Ayam Goreng Nyonya Suharti, serving lauk nasi padang macam Restoran Sederhana semalam.


Tapi... dia punya tepung yang digunakan untuk goreng tu memang sedap lah.. boleh ratah macam tu je.. Food was average here.


So that was our second day - at least we got to see what Tangkuban Perahu was all about, a truly magnificient place.

to be continued...